標籤: improvement

The Brooklyn Nets rookie is getting extended minutes during the final stretch of the season after the team was eliminated from postseason contention. Ben Saraf has seen the biggest increase in workload during recent games.

Saraf has struggled for most of the season. However, he has started to show his skills which led the Nets to select him with the No. 26 pick in the June draft. The 6-foot-6 point guard continued his encouraging performance during Sunday’s 126-122 loss to the Sacramento Kings, scoring a season-high 22 points on 10-of-20 shooting with five assists and two turnovers.

“I think I played pretty well. I got to the rim and made two [feet] “I felt like I was able to finish at the rim, just like the coaches wanted,” Saraf said. I mean, they didn’t have any crazy shot-blockers, so I was able to go all the way. [to the basket]”

Saraf was the only Nets player to score 20 points during the defeat. The 19-year-old has scored in double figures in five of his last six games.

Ben Saraf continues his encouraging performance with a career best performance

Saraf has averaged 12.3 points on 47.5 percent shooting with 4.5 assists and 3.0 turnovers per game during that span. Jordi Fernandez praised the rookie’s finishing and ability to limit turnovers as Brooklyn’s leading ball-handler in Sacramento.

Fernandez said of Saraf’s performance, “It was great.” Possibly one of his best games finishing at the rim. You can see it right there, I love how aggressive he was. Five assists to two turnovers. Our 30 assists resulted in only seven turnovers [as a team] Very impressive. So this is definitely a step forward for us.”

While Saraf was effective as a driver and facilitator on Sunday, he missed all five of his three-point attempts. The Israeli floor general is shooting 36 percent on just 3.6 three-point attempts per 20 minutes this season.

Sunday’s loss moved Brooklyn into a tie with Sacramento for third place in the draft lottery standings. The Nets now have two fewer wins than the Kings with 11 games remaining. They have one more win than the Washington Wizards in second and two more than the Indiana Pacers in first.

Brooklyn has matchups with Sacramento, Washington and Indiana on its remaining schedule.

San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Ingram has spent much of this season honing his skills behind the scenes. The quiet development of the 2024 second-round pick has been a source of satisfaction within the Spurs organization.

Ingram was named G League Player of the Week after averaging 22.2 points, 13.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists in his last five appearances with the Austin Spurs. He recorded four double-doubles and one triple-double, while Austin posted a 4–1 record.

Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson said of Ingram’s development, “The Player of the Week is definitely trending in the right direction.” “I think it’s always somewhat gratifying for him, somewhat beneficial as an organization and a staff, and somewhat fun when you have a young player in your program for a year and they’re grinding, especially when you’re in the G League and it can be a little out of sight, out of mind to the outside world. You’re selling them on slowly getting better and keeping up with the process.

“It can be hard for young guys when, sometimes, they don’t get the attention or direct feedback that they’re looking for or that they’re used to, especially because a lot of them end up being really good college players. So it’s great for him to continue to be that way and see the improvement and development that he’s had and to be recognized in a very deserving way.”

Ingram, the No. 48 pick in the 2024 draft out of North Carolina, has spent most of this season in the G League, appearing in just five NBA games.

Harrison Ingram showing improvement in G League after signing two-way contract

The 6-foot-5 forward’s two-way development with Austin has been encouraging for San Antonio. Ingram is averaging 16.1 points, 12.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists on 48.2 percent shooting in 21 G League appearances.

“He’s really accepted his role and embraced it,” Johnson said. “It can be hard to do that in terms of your role as a defender, a physical role player, playing off the ball to a certain extent. But always trying to extend or create more possessions with offensive rebounds, hitting open shots, getting out and running in transition, and obviously we want him to be a dominant defender and be able to rebound. I think that’s something he’s really embraced and you’ve seen it. And sometimes when you do that If you do it, you get a monster production with it, you can tell he has put his energy in the right places.”

The Spurs signed Ingram to a one-year, two-way contract before this season.